The present invention relates to gate constructions for railings, fences or the like.
The invention particularly relates to gate constructions for use in the railings of storage rack assemblies known as deckovers or mezzanines. These storage rack assemblies are typically used in factories, warehouses or the like for providing one or more additional floors or levels of storage space in a high-ceilinged building. The upper deck level or mezzanine is typically provided with a surrounding railing to prevent articles stored thereon from accidentally falling over the side. Access to the mezzanine is provided by a stairway which leads to a gateway in the mezzanine railing which can be closed by the gate construction of the present invention. But it will be appreciated that the present invention has general utility to any type of railing, fence or the like.
Generally, the frames of mezzanine or deckover assemblies comprise a plurality of interconnected posts and beams as well as stiffening and rigidifying members, the posts and beams typically being channel members. The most common types of channel members used are either U-shaped in transverse cross section or are generally rectangular in transverse cross section with one of the side walls having an elongated slot formed therein running the length of the member to form the channel. Typically, channel members having identical or substantially identical transverse cross sections are used for forming the beams, posts, rails and other structural members of the storage rack construction to simplify the assembly and to minimize the number of different parts.
Gates for railings or the like are well known in the art, but typically they are mounted for pivotal or swinging movement between open and closed positions. This type of gate construction necessitates a considerable amount of wasted space to accommodate the swinging movements of the gate, thereby defeating one of the purposes of the deckover or mezzanine construction, i.e., space conservation. Vertically removable fence sections are also known in the art, typical arrangements being illustrated, for example, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,698,692, 4,007,919 and 4,083,535. The former two patents relate to fence sections which are made up of a plurality of stacked rail members which must be individually inserted or removed. The latter patent described above discloses a fence panel which is removable as a unit, but it is quite complex in construction and is not suited for use with the channel-type structural members typically used in deckover or mezzanine constructions.